Magnum - Birmingham Review

With the exception of a handful of bands that I regularly go and see live, England's Magnum are probably the most-featured band on this blog. This is not because I hold the band in a ridiculously high regard, although I do like them a lot, but instead because of how prolific they are. In recent years, the band have essentially released an album every two years - and a new Magnum album is always an exciting prospect. Whilst there is always a familiarity to a new Magnum album, the consistent quality of their work makes them auto-buys for me. The band also tours regularly, too. They never broke America, but each new album is always accompanied by a lengthy UK tour - as well as a trek throughout Europe that covers many of the markets on the mainland where Magnum did break through. Considering how often they tour, though, I had only attended one Magnum headline show prior to yesterday evening. I am not quite sure how this has happened but, like The Darkness, Magnum's tours always seem to be scheduled at times when I already have a lot of other gigs planned - with the usual accessible options clashing with other plans or fall on days that are just not suitable due to work commitments. I would have loved to have caught Magnum on their last few tours, as they tend to feature healthy amounts of material from each new album in their respective tour setlists, but sadly the last time I saw the band was in 2016 - on the tour for Sacred Blood "Divine" Lies. The show that I attended was in Bristol, and it was a memorable night. I had seen the band at two different festivals previously, but that Bristol show was my first 'true' Magnum live experience. Until yesterday, however, it was also the last time that I saw the band live. I had tickets to see them in Exeter in 2020, but that show never took place for obvious reasons. I also never got a refund for my cancelled ticket as the venue went into liquidation, so it seemed that seeing the band live again would require more of an effort. Due to some other plans however, which ended up being cancelled, I decided to book a ticket to see them in their home town of Birmingham at the Symphony Hall - a show which had already been postponed a number of times. I was going to tie it in with a trip to London to see Brother Firetribe, but with that show being moved to next year the trip became all about Magnum. Considering how long that I had been waiting to see the band, however, this focus was apt. The fact that the show was taking place at the large Symphony Hall was a treat too. Gigs at the Symphony Hall are always great, and the place is certainly bigger than most of the stops on Magnum's tour. Given that Magnum are from Birmingham, however, the larger room made sense - and I would not be surprised if there were a few others who had travelled from outside of the Midlands, like me, to catch the band in their hometown.

Before Magnum's set, however, the large crowd was treated to sets from two support acts. The first band to grace the stage was the duo Theia - who only played for around 25 or so minutes. Made up of brothers Kyle (vocals/guitar) and Ash Lamley (drums), Theia are the latest entry in the informal club of bands who have decided to replace a departed member with a computer. I saw Anchor Lane pipe in all of their basslines a couple of weeks ago opening for Ricky Warwick & The Fighting Hearts; and this is exactly what Theia did - with the bass, various keyboards, and even bits of vocals coming from a laptop set up by Kyle's microphone. I am not really sure why this is becoming a trend, but it is not one that I am supportive of. This is not intended to be a debate about the wider use of backing tracks, as most bands make use of them to some extent, but I am not a fan of them to essentially replace flesh and blood that used to actually be in the band. It keeps costs down I suppose, but it does not allow for a very authentic experience - especially when some of Theia's songs relied heavily on the bass and synths to the extent that Kyle was not touching his guitar during parts of the set. This moan aside, however, Theia's set was enjoyable - despite it not really being my thing. The band could certainly be called a rock band, but they sit at the pop end of rock - but in the modern/alternative sense rather than an AOR one. Generally this sort of music does not do all that much for me, but Theia's songs contained quite a few strong melodies, and Kyle is an engaging frontman and strong singer. It was also clear just how much playing in a venue like the Symphony Hall meant to the pair. It is always great to see bands enjoying themselves in this way and pushing themselves - especially in front of audiences that may not be receptive to what they are doing. Theia's sound is certainly not naturally suited to Magnum's grand pomp rock, but the band still managed to go over quite well with the growing crowd - which is always nice to see.

The evening's main support act Vega, however, were much better suited sound-wise. Magnum and Vega have toured together before, and in fact it was seeing Vega with Magnum in 2016 that properly turned me on to the former. I have since become quite a big Vega fan, and even travelled to Bilston last year to catch the band at their annual Christmas party. It was a great night, so getting another opportunity to see Vega live again so soon was a treat. They had time for an eight-song set, and the band set about making the night their own from the off with the anthemic Worth Dying For - from 2018's Only Human. The first couple of songs suffered from a really strange mix, however. Whoever was manning the sound clearly really wanted to hear James Martin's keyboards - and I mean really hear them. The first two numbers were drenched in keyboards, which probably confused some of the uninitiated, but the sound levelled itself out by the time the band started to showcase some songs from last year's excellent Anarchy and Unity - their first album with the current line-up. Kneel to You, which was debuted at the Bilston show last year, really rocked thanks to the better mix - with James' piano driving the choruses and his brother Tom Martin (bass guitar/vocals) underpinning everything nicely with some smooth grooves. The band's set was generally very upbeat, but things did slow down with the ballad Live for Me. Frontman Nick Workman, who was in excellent form throughout, strapped on an acoustic guitar for the song; and the vocal harmonies sung by the rest of the band made everything sound huge. Without wishing to disrespect any previous incarnations of the band, for me the current line-up of Vega is the best version of the band yet. All six members sing, which means that big harmonies can be created - with drummer Pete Newdeck being the biggest backing vocal contributor. Older songs like Kiss of Life really benefit from this new approach to bigger vocal harmonies, and there just seems to be less pressure on Workman as a result. There were clearly quite a few Vega fans in attendance, but I would not be surprised if the band made themselves a few new fans with their performance - and the heavier Sooner or Later certainly received a strong reaction thanks to its powerful riffing and soaring chorus. As in Bilston, too, the band decided to end their set with a cover of Def Leppard's Animal. Personally I would have preferred to hear another original song, but the choice made sense considering that there were probably quite a few in the room that were not familiar with Vega - and Animal allowed them to sing along at least once. It capped off 40 or so minutes of great music from the band too, and Vega's set was another enjoyable one from the melodic rock act. The setlist was:

Worth Dying For

Every Little Monster

Kneel to You

Live for Me

Kiss of Life

White Flag

Sooner or Later

Animal [Def Leppard cover]

Half an hour or so after Vega's set finished, the lights went down and Magnum trooped onto the stage (following an amusing moment when the wrong song intro was played for a few seconds over the PA) - immediately launching into their late 1980s single Days of No Trust. Given the enforced break from touring, and the fact that the band have released two albums since their last shows in 2019, I had wondered how Magnum would approach this tour. They generally focus on whatever their latest album is, but with two new albums to promote, as well as a likely desire to play some fan-favourites in celebration of getting back on the road, the setlist was pretty varied - with no one album dominating. Despite this, however, the set was generally split in two - with the first half of the show containing newer songs and the latter half containing some classics. Days of No Trust was the only older song to be featured early on, but the anthemic track was a great way to kick off the set. It ensured that the place was bouncing from the off, with Rick Benton's keyboards doing the heavy lifting musically. Benton was one of three 'new' recruits that have joined the band since my last Magnum gig in 2016 - with Lee Morris (drums) and Dennis Ward (bass guitar/vocals) also being new faces for me. Ward joined the band in 2019, but this run of shows is his first with Magnum - and it seems that he has already slotted in nicely. His backing vocals in particular were a big addition to the band's sound. It is no secret that frontman Bob Catley's voice is not what it was, although he still performs admirably, and Ward's harmonies really seemed to help him out. There were moments throughout where Catley sounded a bit rough, but generally I thought he sounded strong - and Ward's harmonies helped to cover a few of the cracks. Getting back to the set itself, however, the first half was a great representation of the band's recent albums. The symphonic Lost on the Road to Eternity was a real treat, before a couple of tracks from the last couple of albums were featured - The Monster Roars and The Archway of Tears. I had expected more songs from their 2020 and 2022 releases to be featured, but I assume the band wanted to keep things varied - which is understandable. Two songs from each of the newer albums were played, with the pulsing Where Are You Eden? being a real highlight - which felt really melodic having followed the crunching Dance of the Black Tattoo.

A rare outing for The Flood, from 1992's Sleepwalking, was the only other older track in the set's first portion - and it was left to The Day After the Night Before to close out the band's focus on their most recent work. The Day After the Night Before is one of The Monster Roars' most upbeat and old-school sounding tracks, and the driving keyboards helped it to get the crowd going. As such, I would not be surprised if the song became a live staple going forward - as it had a great effect on the crowd. Magnum crowds expect to hear a lot of newer material at the band's shows, but The Day After the Night Before went down particularly well. The rest of the set was made up of older songs, however, most of which being regularly-played fan-favourites. The staccato riffing of Wild Swan, however, is not ever-present in the band's sets. Tony Clarkin's (guitar/vocals) machine gun riffing ensured that the song hit home, and Catley's gravely voice suited the song's weighty arrangement nicely. Much of what followed, though, could be described a setlist staples - but the large crowd did not seem to mind. The piano ballad Les Morts Dansant was as poignant as ever, with everyone singing along, and the groovy main riff of Rockin' Chair got a few people dancing. It is another song that is wheeled out every so often, and it is one that I had seen them do previously - but it was still fun to hear the jaunty track again. The final three songs of the main set were all ever-present favourites, however. The crunchy All England's Eyes saw plenty of singing from the crowd, but the one-two punch of Vigilante and Kingdom of Madness had the whole venue rocking. Vigilante has always been a favourite of mine, thanks to its anthemic chorus and great keyboard melodies, and it is always a treat to hear live. Kingdom of Madness had actually, and surprisingly, been rested for a couple of tours prior to this one - and it probably benefitted from this as the song seemed to hit really hard. Everyone sang along to the chorus, and the band seemed really fired up during it. Interestingly, another ever-present number, How Far Jerusalem, was not played - so it seems that the epic track is currently having a similar rest. It was great to hear other songs instead, however, and the rejuvenated Kingdom of Madness was a great way to close out the main set. There was time for a two-song encore, however, and the band came back out for a couple more. It was clear during On a Storyteller's Night, however, that the band were having issues with their monitors, and it seemed that in the time it took them to walk off the stage and return that all of them had stopped working. The band were clearly annoyed about this, but soldiered on - with On a Storyteller's Night again getting everyone moving. It was left to the excellent Sacred Hour to bring the evening to a close, with Benton getting some time in the spotlight during the song's piano intro. There was a little reprise of Days of No Trust at the end, too, which brought things full circle - and the large crowd made their appreciation known as the band took their bows. The setlist was:

Days of No Trust

Lost on the Road to Eternity

The Monster Roars

The Archway of Tears

Dance of the Black Tattoo

Where Are You Eden?

The Flood

The Day After the Night Before

Wild Swan

Les Morts Dansant

Rockin' Chair

All England's Eyes

Vigilante

Kingdom of Madness

-

On a Storyteller's Night

Sacred Hour/Days of No Trust

I have been listening to Magnum now for a long time, and they are one of those ever-reliable bands that you can always count on to enjoy. This was only my fourth time seeing them live, but it was a great evening that showcased the best of what they are currently up to as well as a good selection of old favourites that certainly pleased the large hometown crowd. Seeing them in a venue like the Symphony Hall was great too, and the band seemed to really enjoy being back on the road. With both Catley and Clarkin in their mid-70s now, it is hard to know how long Magnum will carry on touring - but based on last night's display they do not seem to be slowing down yet.